Planned Toowoomba motorsport and entertainment precinct could drive $400m a year

The massive festival venue would be able to cater for world-class music acts and major attractions. It’s part of a $170m sport and entertainment precinct planned for Toowoomba.

PLANNED: Looking at plans for the new $170m motorsport and entertainment precinct at Wellcamp are (from left) Wagner Corporation chairman John Wagner and historical vehicle racer Perry Dayas. INSETS: Concept art and plans for the project.

Toowoomba’s proposed motorsport and entertainment precinct would attract visitor numbers equivalent of four extra Carnival of Flowers to the city every year and inject more than $400 million into the economy annually.

That’s according to developer Wagner Corporation, which is anxious to start soon on the “game-changing” project that could transform Toowoomba into a destination city for international race meets, massive music festivals and weekend warriors chasing thrills and spills.

Based on more than 700 hectares of land just west of Wellcamp Airport, the multi-faceted $170m precinct will include a world-class racing circuit, high-quality viewing areas, driver training centres for trucks, camping grounds for 5000 vehicles, 40,000-capacity open-air amphitheatre, international go-karting complex, motocross track and 4WD experience and training areas.

Supplied image of an artist impression of the Wellcamp Will Power Centre for Motorsport and Driver Training Excellence Centre.

The city’s economic and tourism leaders have thrown their support behind the concept, urging the Federal Government to provide the final $40m in funding to make it viable.

Wagner Corp chairman John Wagner, whose company will spend nearly $100m of its own money on it, said he wanted to replicate the economic boost from the carnival up to five times a year.

The only way to do that, in his view, is by building world-class infrastructure that could attract top events.

“It’s really important we get this thing built and create more jobs and more opportunities for our region,” Mr Wagner said.

“The Carnival of Flowers brings more than 100,000 to the city, so this worth four carnivals a year.

“What the carnival did for the Toowoomba community for the month, if you can have four more of those and one or two other smaller events, you won’t know the place.

“It’s really about turning Toowoomba into a destination — on a big weekend for a motorsport event, it’s not unusual to get 250,000 people over four or five days.”

Wagner Corporation's planned motorsport and entertainment precinct is based on 700 hectares of land at Wellcamp, west of Toowoomba.

Mr Wagner said it would take two years to build the precinct once the final funding was approved.

Southern Queensland Country Tourism CEO Peter Homan said tourists currently spent about $1000 during an average stay of three to four nights in the region.

He said the precinct would not only grow our domestic market, but also boost Toowoomba’s appeal internationally.

“We currently don’t have much of an international market, and a lot of that is education-driven — it’s hard to get them off the coast,” Mr Homan said.

“We think the entertainment precinct will open that whole market up and put Toowoomba on the map.

“I’ve seen John’s proposal and it’s outstanding — not only will it be a great benefit for the region, but we should be able to leverage off it.”

Artist impressions of the Wellcamp Entertainment Precinct.

Mr Homan said the precinct’s offering of attractions based around events and year-round activities made it an ideal tourism driver.

“It’s going to attract all these different people to Toowoomba because there’s all the other side things,” he said.

“The self-drive market is booming and will for the next few years due to Covid-19.”

Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise CEO Ali Davenport said she was excited by how an extra 400,000 people visiting the city could boost regional migration.

“Once people have a good experience, they might come back to live — we hear lots of anecdotal evidence of this,” she said.

“When I first saw the scale of this project, I thought it was the Wagners at their best.

“The number of different ways the facility can be used, not just for motorsport but also driver training, events and conferences, concerts, camping, it speaks volumes about their vision.”

Historic Racing Car Club of Queensland member Perry Dayas with his 1975 Porsche Carrera near the site of the Wagner family's proposed Wellcamp Entertainment Precinct. Picture: Kevin Farmer

TURNING TOOWOOMBA INTO MOTORSPORT MECCA

Toowoomba historical racer Perry Dayas could soon be testing his beautiful 1970s Porsche Carrera on a track industry experts say could become the “crown jewel” in Australian motorsport.

The $170m proposal to build a new world-class motorsport track and precinct just minutes from Toowoomba is being heralded as a game-changer for the sport, whose appeal has been limited due to a lack of quality infrastructure.

Wagner Corp’s $170m project, which was designed by motoring legend Mark Skaife, will be built to IndyCar standards and earn certification by national body Motorsport Australia (MA) to allow V8 Supercars to race on it.

This would make it the only venue in Queensland with this accreditation, opening the door for major race meets attracting up to 100,000 tourists to Toowoomba.

Moreover, it would offer an exciting new venue for the more than dozen amateur and professional racing series and categories crying out for more variety.

Mr Dayas’ club, the Historic Racing Car Club of Queensland (HRCC), is one of several racing categories to throw its support behind the concept.

MA CEO Eugene Acorra called the track “manna from heaven”, saying it was just the project the sport needed.

“Given it’s in Queensland, we at MA were very excited and felt it was a game-changer,” he said.

“The single biggest hindrance to continued growth of our sport is the lack of venues.

“We think Toowoomba would be the jewel in the crown, because it would meet a growing national demand would be appealing to the growth of the sport.”

Artist impressions of the Wellcamp Entertainment Precinct.

Committee member Ian Welsh said even smaller race meets could bring 2000 people with it, who all needed places to stay and have dinner.

“MA made a presentation to government about the lack of circuits, so when we found out about Wagners’ plan, it was sweet dreams,” he said.

“I can assure you with a new circuit, that will attract people from interstate — there are just not enough race tracks.”

TA2 Muscle Car Series category manager Craig Denyer has been so supportive of the precinct’s success, he has run free sponsorship of Wagner Corp on the side of a Dodge Challenger that races in the series.

He said Queensland would see a spike in support for motor racing if the Wellcamp proposal was built.

“There are very few options, in terms of permanent race tracks — you’ve got Morgan Park in Warwick, Queensland Raceway in Ipswich and Lakeside in Brisbane,” Mr Denyer said.

“There are 10-12 racing categories that are not just supercars that would use this — you’ve got a team for a car that might have 10-12 supporters, family and then the fans that come.

“Motor racing needs to appeal to a younger demographic, and bringing them along to a race track is a great way to get new fans into the sport.”

Project developer John Wagner said a key aspect of the project was around driver safety, in a bid to curb the number of lives lost on our roads.